Department of Higher Education

Missouri’s Bright Flight Scholarship will be fully funded for the state’s top-scoring students this year for the first time since the 2009-2010 academic year.

Students receiving the Missouri Higher Education Academic Scholarship, commonly known as Bright Flight, will see a $500 increase in the scholarship amount for the 2014-2015 academic year. Students who score in the top 3 percent on the ACT or SAT test are eligible to receive $3,000 – the maximum scholarship amount – to attend a qualifying Missouri college or university.

The scholarship awards vary from year to year based on funding approved by the Missouri General Assembly. Last year’s scholarship award was $2,500.

To qualify for the scholarship, a student must be a Missouri resident, earn a composite ACT score of 31 or higher or a score of 800 in both critical reading and math on the SAT, and enroll at an approved postsecondary school for the academic year immediately following high school graduation.

Although the scholarship is being fully funded this year for the top tier of students, funds are not available for students scoring in the top 4th and 5th percentiles on the ACT and SAT. Legislation approved in 2007 expanded the scholarship to include students in the top 4th and 5th percentiles, but revisions enacted in 2010 require the top 3 percent to receive the full scholarship amount before funding those in the top 4^th and 5^th percentile. Funding still remains inadequate to make awards to these additional students.

Approximately 6,100 students are expected to receive the Bright Flight Scholarship this fall. Students can renew the scholarship annually for up to 10 semesters or until they receive a bachelor’s degree if they meet eligibility requirements that include maintaining a 2.5 cumulative grade point average.

The Bright Flight Scholarship program was established in 1986 to encourage top-ranking high school seniors to continue their education in Missouri.

For more information about the Bright Flight Scholarship, visit http://dhe.mo.gov/ppc/grants/brightflight.php.